The League are contacted by Mycroft Holmes, who informs them that a Martian invasion is coming. But, even with the aid of the Frankenstein Monster and the mysterious Logan, this time the League may be unable to win...

AN: This story's plot is in NO WAY similar to the comic book 'The League of
Extraordinary Gentlemen Volume Two' in any way other than that they're
fighting the Martians. So, no disturbing sex scenes, Doctor Moreau will not
be involved, the Invisible Man won't turn traitor, Hyde won't get blown up,
and Nemo and Mina won't leave the League for personal reasons.

Worlds at War

"How's it coming along?"

Peeking out of her door, Mina smiled when she saw who had made that
comment; Tom Sawyer, dressed in the suit he'd worn for Christmas rather
than his usual casual attire. Still, his change of clothing wasn't too much
of a surprise.

"Well, thanks Tom," she replied, before she shut the door to finish what
she'd been doing. She'd managed to find the gown that Sawyer had given her
for Christmas, and had decided that it would be a good choice for tonight.

Since Terry had joined the League they'd been putting him through his paces
against the other members of the team, and although they had acknowledged
the need for it the League hadn't been exactly thrilled at the fighting;
several of them were still slightly sore. To make up for it, Sawyer had
persuaded Nemo's cook to organise something special for the League that
night, and also commented that he'd made arrangements for some interesting
after-dinner entertainment.

Personally, Mina was looking forward to it. She hadn't attended much social
gatherings like this one before Dracula's bite had transformed her, and
she'd normally neglected them ever since it had. She wouldn't mind the
chance to loosen up tonight.

*****

When Mina opened the door, Sawyer couldn't help but stare at her. She was
wearing the gown he'd got her for Christmas, but it looked far better than
he could ever have imagined from seeing it on the rack. It was a dark blue
colour, and had no shoulders or arms, spreading down from just below her
arms to around her feet. She had also put on some long white gloves that
stretched up to above her elbows, and a long sparkling scarf was draped
around her neck. He also noted that she was wearing the necklace Skinner
had given her for Christmas. Her hair was bunched up a little over her
forehead, and the rest of it was in an attractive bun at the back of her
head.

"Wow," Sawyer said, looking his lover up and down. "That looks better than
I ever imagined."

"Thanks," Mina smiled, kissing him briefly before she took his hand and
they began to walk down the corridor. "So, what's this enigmatic
entertainment you've been mentioning?" She suddenly stopped and Sawyer
looked back at her. He noticed an expression on her face that appeared to
be a combination of horror and humour. "It's not Skinner doing a comedy
routine, right?"

"Well, I did think about that..." Sawyer replied, causing the humour to
vanish from Mina's face. "But after he tried a couple of jokes, I told him
it wouldn't work. No, I've got Hartdegen and Terry to organise something
very unique. In fact, you can safely say this world has never seen the like
of this show to date."

"How's that?" Mina asked.

"Well, let's eat first, than you'll see," Sawyer replied, before he
continued on down the corridor.

Mina followed on after only a couple of seconds. She knew that Sawyer had
gone to a lot of trouble to organise this surprise, and she didn't want his
efforts to go to waste. He'd reveal it when the time was right.

When they arrived in the League's dining room, most of the others were
already there. Terry wasn't, but that was understandable; he didn't need to
eat or drink, so it would be pretty pointless to have joined them. Well,
strictly speaking, Terry did need to eat, but it was mostly just basic
sustenance taken over a certain period of time, from what the League had
gathered, so he mostly ate when he wanted to by himself.

The rest of the League all looked very distinguished. Jekyll and Nemo were
wearing what they'd been wearing for Christmas, and Hartdegen was wearing a
similar outfit to Jekyll and Sawyer (Except that his one was a dark green
while theirs were blue and red). Even Skinner had put in a bit of effort on
this occasion; he was wearing a black formal suit with a white shirt and
bow tie, although it looked like he'd just been raiding Jekyll's wardrobe.

"Can I ask you something?" Mina asked Sawyer, before the two of them sat
down. "How come you, Henry and Alex are all wearing something like Dorian's
outfits? Trying to imitate him to impress me?"

"No, nothing like that," Sawyer assured her. "It's just that there's
nothing else for these occasions except Nemo's stuff, and none of them are
really us."

"Fair enough," Mina said, as she and Sawyer sat down at the table and
Sawyer looked over at Nemo.

"So, did they get the first course out yet?" he asked.

"No," Nemo replied. "We've been waiting for you two before we started, but
the cook has managed to keep the dishes warm." He looked over at the door
leading to the kitchen. "They're here now!" he called in.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the door had opened and six
waiters came heading out of the door. All were carrying a scrumptious-
looking dish on the plate, which they placed in front of each League
member, and they started tucking in at once. However, despite the
attraction of the meal (A steak cooked so that it was still slightly
bloody), Mina still couldn't stop wondering what the after-meal
entertainment was.

*****

Eventually, the League had finished their food. As Skinner (Who'd taken
ages to finish his desert of chocolate ice-cream) finally put his spoon
down in his bowl, he glanced over at Sawyer.

"So, is that mysterious entertainment going to be revealed soon, Mr
Sawyer?" he asked, grinning at his friend. "After all, I think we're
entitled to find out whether all the fuss was worth it."

"Check," Hartdegen said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a
small black box.

"What is that?" Nemo asked, leaning over the table to look at it.

"A pager," Hartdegen replied, smiling a little at Nemo's scientific
curiosity. "If I push this button, it will cause the one that I gave to
Terry to beep sharply. When he gets it... well, you'll see."

Just as Hartdegen was about to push the button, one of Nemo's crew came
charging into the room, waving something above his head. The entire League
recognised it at once; it was the only one of the four radios that
Hartdegen had brought back which they'd kept.

"Yes, what is it?" Nemo asked, getting up and walking towards the crewman.
"Sorry to interrupt you like this, Captain, but we have received an urgent
call from My Mycroft Holmes," the crewman explained, turning to Sawyer as
he spoke. "He wishes to speak with you, sir."

"Of course," Sawyer said, as he got out of his seat and took the radio.
Pushing the talk button, he raised it to his mouth and said, "Mycroft, this
is Sawyer. What's up?"
A voice crackled back over the radio, replying, "I am sorry to interrupt
anything that you may be doing, Agent Sawyer, but we need you immediately.
There may be a grave danger coming to the world, and you are the only
people with the capacity to stop it."

Sawyer looked around the table at the rest of the League. They all nodded
in agreement at their leader. He smiled.

"Sure thing, Mycroft. What's the situation?" he said into the radio.

"It is too complicated to explain right now," the British Government agent
replied. "Meet me in the room underneath the British Museum, in the room
where Moriarty met with Mr Quartermain, Captain Nemo, Mr Skinner and Mrs
Harker. Will that be good?"

"Good enough," Sawyer replied, as he turned the radio off. He looked over
at the other League members. "Sorry guys, but it looks like the
entertainment is going to have to wait. Hartdegen, inform Terry about the
change in circumstances. Nemo, turn the Nautilus in the direction of
London. The rest of you, just change into something more suitable and make
sure your training with Terry hasn't caused anything too serious; whatever
Mycroft's called us in for, it's got to be big."

"Check," Skinner replied, as he got out of his seat and headed towards the
main door, shrugging off his jacket as he walked. The rest of the League
followed suite, with Sawyer at the back. However, Mina glanced back at him
and noticed that he was looking a little sad. She turned back and placed a
comforting hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong, Tom?" she asked.

He looked up, and rewarded her with a small smile. "Nothing much. It's
just..." he sighed. "I was so looking forward to showing you guys what I'd
set up. Now it's all ruined."

Mina smiled a little and patted him reassuring. "Don't worry about it, Tom.
Whatever else happens, I'm sure you'll have the time to show us whatever
you set up later." She then leaned forward and whispered into his ear.
"And, once we're done with the practice, I'm sure I could come up with
some... interesting ways to make you feel better."

Sawyer smiled at her as she imparted that little bit of information.
"You're perfect, you know that?"

"I try," Mina smiled in reply.

Then the two of them linked hands and began walking on down the corridor.
It was only a small gesture of affection, but it made them feel like they
could take on anything. They were good together. Alone, they were strong.
Together, it was a very foolish person who tried to stop them.

However, right now all they wanted to do was get to a cabin and enjoy each
other's company for a while. Based on their current location, they knew
that the Nautilus wouldn't reach London for about a day, so they had plenty
of time.

*****

"So, Terry, how'd your timeline come about anyway?" Skinner asked, as he
and Terry spread out in their chairs on the viewing deck. To ensure they
made good time for the trip, Nemo had surfaced the Nautilus and was
currently charging up the solar panels to ensure it made good speed. The
rest of the League were busy preparing for whatever Mycroft wanted them
for, but since Skinner and Terry's abilities were always at their peak,
Skinner had convinced Terry to join him in a bit of rest.

"It began on September 18th, 2003, at 6:18 p.m.," Terry replied. He may
have come up, but Skinner got the distinct impression that this whole thing
did nothing more for him than help him blend in. After all, he didn't eat,
drink, go to the toilet or sleep (Skinner didn't know about the last, but
he'd sometimes seen Terry's room and the bed was always in pristine order
so it seemed likely), and was still taking time to learn passably normal
human vocabulary, so he probably needed to appear normal in every way he
could. "The Artificial Intelligence system, Skynet, was activated in order
to combat a virus that had been infecting the world's computers. Despite
the efforts of John Connor, Katherine Brewster, and another T-101-"

"Whoa, back up, I need a cast list," Skinner said, holding up one arm.
"John Connor? Katherine Brewster? Another T-101- what, you guys come custom-
made or something?"

"Yes," Terry replied simply. "And in answer to your other questions, John
Connor is the leader of the human resistance, and the single last best hope
for humankind in his time. Katherine Brewster is his wife, and the main
reason his group managed to stand against Skynet due to her father's
connections with the American army."

"Oh," Skinner said. Not every day you hear about a war to save humanity in
another reality, he thought to himself. Gather everything you can to ensure
it never happens here. "So, what happened?"

"Skynet triggered off the world's nuclear missile silos," Terry said.
Noticing that Skinner's body language indicated confusion, he just said,
"That is a weapon from the future that can severely damage the environment
in its immediate vicinity when set off. It almost totally annihilated every
human on the planet. The survivors were eventually led by John Connor
against Skynet, eventually managing to defeat it."

"Let me guess, not that simple, huh?" Skinner asked, giving a small grin.
Terry only saw it due to his infrared vision; Skinner wasn't wearing his
greasepaint, so his face was invisible to normal vision.

"True," Terry began, but before he could continue their conversation was
interrupted by the appearance of Doctor Jekyll.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Nemo tells me that we'll be diving soon," he said,
looking at his two friends. "Besides, we need to organise the weapons;
Hartdegen's picked up a couple of guns in the future that Hyde might be
able to use, along with a lot of other stuff, but we still need to decide
who gets what in the event of our needing to go into action."

"Fair enough," Skinner said, as he and Terry got out of their seats.
Skinner dusted his coat down while Terry folding their deckchairs up and
tucked them under his arms.

As Terry headed down into the Nautilus, Skinner glanced over at Jekyll.

"Did Nemo say when we'd be in London, by the way?" he asked.

"I think he said we'd be there in about fifteen hours or so," Jekyll
replied, as he and Skinner entered the Nautilus and Skinner pulled the door
shut. "He says it's a good thing we aren't too far from London; apparently
we've been sailing towards Denmark recently."

"Any particular reason?" Skinner asked, as he got the slight feeling of a
jolt in his stomach that he always got when the Nautilus was diving for
some reason.

"No, he just said he felt like dropping in," Jekyll replied, as they
entered the Nautilus's main corridor and began to walk towards the control
room. "Apparently he hasn't been there before, and he wanted to go
somewhere new."

"Well, we'll have to remember to pay it a visit once this mess is over,"
Skinner said, as he and Jekyll entered the control room, where Mina was
turning the main wheel. "Course laid in, Nemo?" he asked casually.

Nemo looked back at the invisible man and nodded. "Where are the others?"
he asked as he moved away from the wheel, leaving his new first mate,
Patel, in charge.

"Well, Terry's putting away our deckchairs, last I heard Hartdegen was
cleaning his machine, and I think I saw Sawyer and Mina heading for
Sawyer's room," Skinner replied, as he ticked off each member on his
fingers. At least, that's what Nemo and Jekyll assumed he was doing;
Skinner hadn't got any gloves on at the moment, so the only hint he was
doing anything with his hands was the fact that his sleeves were near his
face.

"So, shall we leave them there?" Jekyll asked, looking around at his
friends.

"Oh, more than likely," Nemo replied, as the three of them left the control
room. "After all, we don't need them right now; we just need to pick out
what weapons might be useful for this fight. Besides, I believe that Mr
Sawyer and Mrs Harker would appreciate a bit of private time before
something as big as what Mr Holmes was implying."

"True," Skinner said, as they began to walk down the stairs that led to the
Nautilus's weapons stores. "Well, let's get down to business."

With that, the three of them left the steps and entered the weapons store,
which was conveniently near the stairs. Nemo noted that everything was
being kept in the pristine order he expected from his crew, and made a note
to thank them.

"So," he said, as he turned back to his friends, "Where shall we begin?"

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